Gift of Love

I heard a line in a Christmas movie once where a woman told a man that the first gift ever given was a child- meaning Jesus being born. It was a great movie, and that line is one that I will never forget. Most people recognize that Christmas is about the baby Jesus being born, and that is Jesus' birthday, but do we understand it all? Do we really understand that through this child being born, we, the world, are not subject to living without Christ in eternity as long as we choose him?

John 3:16-17 tells us this: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him."

I have known this verse for most of my life as I memorized it as a little child and am still today amazed by it. To know that God sent His Son to this world to die for me so that I could have the chance to live with Him in Heaven one day is too much to comprehend fully. To fully grasp how much God loves us is about impossible, and it's equally about impossible to understand that He was not sent here to judge us but to save us because of His love for each of us.

We often love others conditionally and will only do for them if they are doing what is right by us. Thankfully, God is not like that. He already knows every choice we will make in our lives, and yet He still chose to send His Son for us that we could be saved- how incredible is that? To know that even while we were still sinners, Christ loved and died for us and for those He knew wouldn't choose Him as well.

It is easy in this world to feel unloved because none of us knows how to love truly. We tend to love based on how we feel at the moment and or based on who the person is. People will let us down, hurt us, reject us, and even offend us, which is not very loving, yet we act the same way. However, we need to remember that the love of God does not act that way. His love for us will always be unconditional. There is not one thing we could do to make God not love us- not one thing. Now that is not to say that He will agree with all of our choices and that there are no repercussion to our choices at times, but His love for is never-ending and will always be there for us. He loves us all so much that He sent His only Son to die for us, so we could spend eternity with Him if we choose. His love for us is never condemning but comforting, and it's free to all of us. All we must do is believe in Him, open our hearts and minds to receiving Him into our lives, and for all of His love to encompass our every move. For without him in our lives, our lives are destined to be disastrous, and our eternity is determined to be an eternity without Him, and anything without Him is a life of torment.

So, for you, if you would like to know and have the presence of God in your life- that peace, comfort, and love that He has for you repeat this prayer: "Dear Father, I ask you today to come into my heart and life, and I am asking you to forgive me of all my sins. I'm asking you today to be the Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that You are the Son of God, that You were sent to this earth and died upon the cross for my sins. I also believe that You rose again on the third day, and for me, You are preparing an eternity in Heaven. I now give you my heart and life and ask that you help my daily walk and rely on You. Please come into every area of my life and teach me of the great love that you have for me, and may my life from this point on glorify You. In Jesus name, I pray amen."

Accepting Christ and His free gift is the most important decision you will ever make, and most important, it is an everlasting decision. Know that your life will be filled with mistakes that you will make but that God did not send his Son to condemn you, but to save and love you. Know that He now lives inside of you, and anything you need, He is there to help you with it. Now because of your choice to accept Christ, you, along with me, can even more appreciate that the greatest gift ever freely given truly was what the woman in that movie had said- the first gift ever given was that of a child!!

From Gardens of Splendor by Gina Burns